Huawei Chief Predicts Sales Will Flatline After Trump Crackdown

SHANGHAI — The chief government of Huawei, the Chinese know-how large, stated on Monday that he anticipated the corporate’s annual income to slide this yr to about $100 billion because the Trump administration’s crackdown on the agency takes a chew out of its enterprise.

Huawei earned greater than $105 billion in gross sales final yr, helped by its fast-growing smartphone enterprise. The firm’s chief government, Ren Zhengfei, stated in January that he anticipated one other bumper yr in 2019, with gross sales leaping to $125 billion.

But that was earlier than the United States minimize the corporate off from the American chips, software program and different elements that go into its handsets and telecommunication tools, saying that the agency represented a menace to nationwide safety. American officers have lengthy stated that Huawei’s merchandise could possibly be utilized by Beijing to disrupt or sabotage digital communications, expenses that the corporate vehemently rejects.

Washington has taken its case towards the Chinese large to lots of its allies abroad, main governments world wide to rethink whether or not the agency ought to be allowed to construct next-generation 5G telecom infrastructure.

Huawei executives have said that the company had stockpiled computer chips and electronic components in anticipation that it may one day be unable to purchase them from American suppliers. The company has also said it is developing its own operating system to replace Google’s Android in its handsets. But it remains to be seen whether consumers in Europe, for instance — where Huawei has become a giant smartphone seller — will want to use devices that run on unfamiliar and potentially less-tested software.